Clark looking to help lead Cards to big year

Jacksonville running back Spencer Clark (42) is hoping for a big season for the Cardinals, who open up Friday night at home against county rival Southwest.

John Althouse/The Daily News

By Rick Scoppe-Rick.Scoppe@JDNews.com

Published: Friday, August 22, 2014 at 08:30 AM.

After the sport’s on-screen premier in his young eyes via the Madden NFL video game, Spencer Clark’s true introduction to football was decidedly old-school, complete with chalk but no chalkboard, with his father overseeing the X’s and O’s.

The 5-foot-9, 175-pound senior running back at Jacksonville High said he’s been playing football since he was in the fourth grade, beginning under the tutelage of his father, Devin, who was a huge fan of the game. The elder Clark loved NFL Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton of the Chicago Bears and played football while in the Marines.

“He started playing Madden with me and he’d take me outside and take chalk on the ground and draw up plays and help me run through them,” the younger Clark said. “He taught me more than one position because he didn’t want me to play just one position. He wanted me to be valuable. Then when the time came around for me to get to play football I had him sign me up and I started playing.”

But Clark has never forgotten the days in the yard with pops.

“I remember all of it,” he said. “We’d go to the store and buy some chalk and he’d write up the holes and tell me to run through this hole, like ‘34 dive’ or something like that. He’d show me the plays, show me the coverages.”

Along with the instruction, Clark said his father sought to make sure his son really did want to play the game.

“When I was younger ... I was like, ‘I want to play football when I get older.’ He was like, ‘You actually mean what you say?’” Clark recalled. “I was like, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘Well, you need to stick to that and do everything you can to make that happen.’”

And so he has.

Clark, who rushed for 215 yards and four touchdowns on just 32 carries a year ago, is being counted on to help lead the ground game this year for the Cardinals, who open the season Friday night at home against county rival Southwest.

“We honestly can’t wait until the season starts,” he said. “We think we can take it all this year.”

Along with being clocked in the 40-yard dash at 4.48 seconds, Clark, who runs the hurdles and relays for the track team and used to wrestle, is one of the strongest pound-for-pound players at Jacksonville with a bench press of 365 pounds.

“He’s one of our mainstays on offense,” coach Beau Williams said. “He could be real good. He’s done a real good job on the track last year. He got a lot faster. Weight-room wise, he’s up there. He’s probably one of the strongest guys in the county. He’s good. He’s just got to get it transferred over.

“He gets down on himself a little bit. But now he’s kind of picking that up and getting better. He’s like a perfectionist. ... When he messes up on one thing he dwells on it too long, but this year he’s been a lot better. I think he’s going to have a good year.”

Clark, who wears No. 42 in practice but No. 33 in games, said he worked hard during preseason practice listening to his coaches and what they expected of him in preparation for his final high school season.

“Really, I (was) focused on getting all the positions coach wants me to get instead of focused on what I feel like I want to do so that way I’ll be more valuable to the team,” he said.

While Clark will spend most of the time in the backfield at either fullback or tailback, he’ll also see some action at slot receiver. At first, he said his head was spinning having to learn the different positions. But no more.

“It’s going all right now,” he said.

And while right now he’s not penciled in to play defense, he’d be up to playing, say at outside linebacker.

Clark said he learned a lot last year, although one lesson was a harsh one: The Cardinals’ 59-20 loss at North Forsyth in the second round of the NCHSAA 3-A playoffs.

“I learned a lot,” he said. “We need to step up more and there has to be a lot more leaders if we’re going to go further than that this year. But we honestly feel good about this season.”

And why not? Under Williams and his father, Chip, and the rest of the JHS staff, the Cardinals have won 17 games the past two seasons after just two the previous two years. It is, Clark agreed, a refreshing trend.

“Honestly, when coach Chip came in with coach Beau, they got us right. They got our heads straight and told us where we were supposed to be and gave us everything we needed,” Clark said. “I mean it’s right in front of us. All we have to do is just use it.”

Sort of like what happened to Clark with the elder Williams suggested he try the hurdles. Clark wasn’t sold initially.

“I looked at him like he was crazy,” Clark recalled, “and then he taught me how to do it, told me to get my three step down and now it’s easy. ... He just took me outside and had the hurdles set up and he’s like, ‘All right, here’s how you go over them.’ ... My steps were a little off (the first time), but I didn’t fall. ... Now I try to teach other people, too. It’s pretty fun.”

While he likes track for the sport itself, he also knows it should help him in football and perhaps even earn him a college scholarship to pursue the sport he loves along with a career in mechanical engineering.

“I like to draw,” he said. “My dad was an artist ... and then I picked up on it. I kind of wanted to do architectural stuff at first and then I also like taking things apart and putting them back together, so I figured why don’t I just be a mechanical engineer.”

For now, however, he’s focused on helping the Cardinals put together another strong season in a sport that gives him more than perhaps he ever expected when he first took it up.

“My love for the game hasn’t changed at all. I still love football, probably more now. Honestly, putting the pads on and actually hitting, it’s 10 times better,” Clark said. “When you’re out there everything changes. With the normal lifestyle, you don’t have to go through a bunch of other stuff. When you’re out there on the football field it’s pretty much an escape. You’re out there with your team, you become a lot closer with them and you just get to have fun playing the game.”

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After the sport’s on-screen premier in his young eyes via the Madden NFL video game, Spencer Clark’s true introduction to football was decidedly old-school, complete with chalk but no chalkboard, with his father overseeing the X’s and O’s.

The 5-foot-9, 175-pound senior running back at Jacksonville High said he’s been playing football since he was in the fourth grade, beginning under the tutelage of his father, Devin, who was a huge fan of the game. The elder Clark loved NFL Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton of the Chicago Bears and played football while in the Marines.

“He started playing Madden with me and he’d take me outside and take chalk on the ground and draw up plays and help me run through them,” the younger Clark said. “He taught me more than one position because he didn’t want me to play just one position. He wanted me to be valuable. Then when the time came around for me to get to play football I had him sign me up and I started playing.”

But Clark has never forgotten the days in the yard with pops.

“I remember all of it,” he said. “We’d go to the store and buy some chalk and he’d write up the holes and tell me to run through this hole, like ‘34 dive’ or something like that. He’d show me the plays, show me the coverages.”

Along with the instruction, Clark said his father sought to make sure his son really did want to play the game.

“When I was younger ... I was like, ‘I want to play football when I get older.’ He was like, ‘You actually mean what you say?’” Clark recalled. “I was like, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘Well, you need to stick to that and do everything you can to make that happen.’”

And so he has.

Clark, who rushed for 215 yards and four touchdowns on just 32 carries a year ago, is being counted on to help lead the ground game this year for the Cardinals, who open the season Friday night at home against county rival Southwest.

“We honestly can’t wait until the season starts,” he said. “We think we can take it all this year.”

Along with being clocked in the 40-yard dash at 4.48 seconds, Clark, who runs the hurdles and relays for the track team and used to wrestle, is one of the strongest pound-for-pound players at Jacksonville with a bench press of 365 pounds.

“He’s one of our mainstays on offense,” coach Beau Williams said. “He could be real good. He’s done a real good job on the track last year. He got a lot faster. Weight-room wise, he’s up there. He’s probably one of the strongest guys in the county. He’s good. He’s just got to get it transferred over.

“He gets down on himself a little bit. But now he’s kind of picking that up and getting better. He’s like a perfectionist. ... When he messes up on one thing he dwells on it too long, but this year he’s been a lot better. I think he’s going to have a good year.”

Clark, who wears No. 42 in practice but No. 33 in games, said he worked hard during preseason practice listening to his coaches and what they expected of him in preparation for his final high school season.

“Really, I (was) focused on getting all the positions coach wants me to get instead of focused on what I feel like I want to do so that way I’ll be more valuable to the team,” he said.

While Clark will spend most of the time in the backfield at either fullback or tailback, he’ll also see some action at slot receiver. At first, he said his head was spinning having to learn the different positions. But no more.

“It’s going all right now,” he said.

And while right now he’s not penciled in to play defense, he’d be up to playing, say at outside linebacker.

Clark said he learned a lot last year, although one lesson was a harsh one: The Cardinals’ 59-20 loss at North Forsyth in the second round of the NCHSAA 3-A playoffs.

“I learned a lot,” he said. “We need to step up more and there has to be a lot more leaders if we’re going to go further than that this year. But we honestly feel good about this season.”

And why not? Under Williams and his father, Chip, and the rest of the JHS staff, the Cardinals have won 17 games the past two seasons after just two the previous two years. It is, Clark agreed, a refreshing trend.

“Honestly, when coach Chip came in with coach Beau, they got us right. They got our heads straight and told us where we were supposed to be and gave us everything we needed,” Clark said. “I mean it’s right in front of us. All we have to do is just use it.”

Sort of like what happened to Clark with the elder Williams suggested he try the hurdles. Clark wasn’t sold initially.

“I looked at him like he was crazy,” Clark recalled, “and then he taught me how to do it, told me to get my three step down and now it’s easy. ... He just took me outside and had the hurdles set up and he’s like, ‘All right, here’s how you go over them.’ ... My steps were a little off (the first time), but I didn’t fall. ... Now I try to teach other people, too. It’s pretty fun.”

While he likes track for the sport itself, he also knows it should help him in football and perhaps even earn him a college scholarship to pursue the sport he loves along with a career in mechanical engineering.

“I like to draw,” he said. “My dad was an artist ... and then I picked up on it. I kind of wanted to do architectural stuff at first and then I also like taking things apart and putting them back together, so I figured why don’t I just be a mechanical engineer.”

For now, however, he’s focused on helping the Cardinals put together another strong season in a sport that gives him more than perhaps he ever expected when he first took it up.

“My love for the game hasn’t changed at all. I still love football, probably more now. Honestly, putting the pads on and actually hitting, it’s 10 times better,” Clark said. “When you’re out there everything changes. With the normal lifestyle, you don’t have to go through a bunch of other stuff. When you’re out there on the football field it’s pretty much an escape. You’re out there with your team, you become a lot closer with them and you just get to have fun playing the game.”